Determining thermal absorption using ring oscillator
US7408421B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 5, 2006 |
| Grant date | Aug 5, 2008 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 12, 2026 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01K7/32
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A device and method for determining a thermal absorption of a part of an integrated circuit (IC) are provided. A specially designed ring oscillator including a non-silicided poly-silicon resistor is used for the determination. The parameters of the ring oscillator are designed/tuned so that a delay of the ring oscillator varies predominantly with a variation in a resistance of the non-silicided poly-silicon resistor. The dimensions of the non-silicided poly-silicon resistor are large enough so that the resistance of the non-silicided poly-silicon resistor is immune to the small process variations of the poly-silicon length and width. The resistance of the non-silicided poly-silicon resistor varies with the thermal absorption of the part of the IC. As such, the thermal absorption of the part of the IC may be determined based on the delay of the ring oscillator.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.